Jenifer Cobaxin Essay

Class: black February 24, 2017

Dehumanization Essay

Dehumanization is the process of taking people's humanity and are treated less than

humans. In the novel, “Night” by Elie Wiesel, it shows how the Nazis terrorized the Jews by

treating them like animals and not giving the respect and rights the Jews deserve. During the

Holocaust, Jewish people were deprived from their humanity because the Nazis gave them no

respect by deporting them, taking their possessions and threatening them with death.

The Jews were intimidated with death by the Nazis. The Nazis wanted to get rid of the

Jews because they blamed them for economic crisis that germany suffered. In the book, it states

“There are 80 of you in this wagon, added the German Officer if anyone is missing you’ll all be

shot like dogs.” (page 8) This meant that the Jews were to stay put or else they would die and

they were treated like animals. They were given no respect and were terrorized by the Nazis.

The Nazis dehumanize the Jews by taking their most valuable possessions. They couldn't

own anything and the Nazis would take it all. It states on page 8,“ a jew no longer had any right

to keep his house,gold, jewels or any objects of value. Everything had to be handed over to

authorities on pain of death”. It means that the Jews were being treated less than humans and

their belongings were taken from. The Nazis would take their stuff and not give it back.

The Jews not only lost their belongings and were threatened by death, but they were also

deported. They would be forced to leave their home and go to concentration camps. It states on

page 11,“ the ghetto was to be completely wiped out. We were to leave the street by street

starting the following day”. The Jews were kicked from their home which they worked hard to

get and were forced to go to a place far away where they were imprisoned. Even today, there is
still deportation. Donald Trump, President of the United States made an order on deporting

immigrants. They end up losing their home and forced to leave. They are being dehumanized and

they shouldn’t be because they are also a human being like me. The United States is a free

country where people are welcome here to start a new life.

In the book, “Night” Eliezer, his father and the rest of the Jews they went through all of

the dehumanization that I listed. Eliezer started to lose faith in God because of how poorly his

people were treated. They were threatened by death, deported, and their possessions were taken.

The Nazis dehumanize the Jews in many ways during the Holocaust. In the end, we are still ONE

human beings, and we should treat each other the same with respect.